Mulching wheel for seeding machines



March 14, 1933. P, JOHNSON 1,901,299

MULCHING WHEEL FOR SEEDING MACHINES Original Filed Feb. 6, 1932 PatentedMar. 14, 1933 i I i I I I BEN I. JOHNSON, or srnrnerrntn, onro,Assienonro EDWARD n. GBEINER, or SPRINGFIELD, 0310 I MULGHING W'HEEL"FOBSEEDING -MAGHINES Original application filed February 6, 1932, Serial1%. 591,407. Divided. and. this application filed February 6, 1932.Serial No. 591,408.

This invention is a novel improvement in ing a portion of the arms forattaching-same adjustable press and mulching wheels for to the rear endof a seeding machine. seeding machines, the present application Fig.2'isa rear elevation thereof, showing being a division of my copendingapplicathe wheels ,operatingin the seeded-furrow, tion, Serial No. 591,l07, filed February 6, one of the wheels being'in section. 55 1932. Fig.3 is a' section through a furrow I The principal object of the inventionis to formed by my closed type press and mulchrovide novel mulchingwheels, of the closed ing wheels shown inliig. 2. and open type, adaptedto operate in the fur- Figj l'is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing 10rows seeded by the seeding machine for the my open type press wheelsoperating in the co purpose of spreading loose soil over the seededfurrow v seeded portion of the furrow to conserve My novel press'wheelsare adapted to be moisture over the planted seed. lnngedly attached tothe. rear of a-seeding Other objects of the invention are to promachineof anytype, though preferably of vide novel mulching wheels used in setsconthe type shown in my aforesaid application,

sisting of two wheels disposed at an angle the wheels being in alignmentwith the furto each other, teed in at the bottom, the row openerscarried by the maohinein' the wheels of the closed type each having ananusual manner. The attachment of the nular portion at their inner edgesadapted 'wheels to the seeding machine consist 20 to press the dirt downin the furrow over of a pan 2 hin'gedly connected by straps 1 2 in fromthe sides of the furrow, thereby precarries the set of mulching wheels.The pan the planted seed, the wheels having at their to the rear end ofthe seeding machine outer edges half-round projecting rims frame, saidpan 2 having a bracket 3 mountadapted to form trenches at the sides ofthe ed on its underside, to the lower end of furrow for retaining theloose soilthat falls which is pivotally secured an arm t which ventingan excessive amount of soil from be-. 2 is adapted to receive weightssuch as rocks ing deposited over the seed; and the half or thelike tohold the press wheels down to round projection picking upjdirt from thethe groundwith any desired pressure. The

sides of the furrow, the dirt being .disbracket 3 isprovided'withaprojecting lug 30 charged through perforations in the fiattire 3a and the arm l with a bracket 4a, and a and inner wall of thewheel to-form a loose b0l't'5 extends through thev'bracket and lug orunpacked moisture retaining mulch over around'which'is interposed aspring 16 for the soil that has been pressed down over the the purposeof yieldingly pressing the arm seeds. downwardly into the furrow. A. pin5a in 3 A. further object is to providenovel open the upper end of bolt5 limits the "downward mulching wheels in which the annular pormovementof the arm 4, while the spring 6 tions of the wheels are omitted,whereby the v yieldably depresses the mulch wheels into wheels will notpress the soil down upon the the furrow F. 7

seed sown in the furrows. The outer end of'the arm 4 is provided Twillexplain the invention with reference witha shoulder 4b beyond'which. t d

to the accompanying drawing which illusa threaded projection is uponwhich the ser-- trates several practical embodiments thereof rated andflattened heads 6a of the stub axles to enable others familiar with theart to 60f the wheels 7 are mounted, the opposed adopt and use the same,and will summarize Stub axles 6 being clamped to the end of in theclaims the nov l features of construcarm 4. by means of a bolt 4d. Theheads 6a 5 5 closed type press and mulching wheels show: downwardly asshown in Figs. 2 and 4- so tion'and novel combination of patents for ofthe stub axles 6 are disposed ata slight which protection isdesired.angle'to the axis of the stub shafts, whereby In said drawing: when theaxles are bolted to the member 4: Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofmy novelthe axes thereof will be inclined slightly that the press wheels will betoed in at the bottom so as to lie closely adjacent at the ground levelwith their inner peripheries nearly touching, as shown'in Fig. 2. The

serrated heads 6a permit adjustment of the axles and wheels of the setabout a vertical axis, i. e;, relative to the ground- As shown in Figs.1 and 2,1 my novel the plate 7a as shown. Plate 7 a1 is provided at itsperiphery with an outwardly extending peripheral flange 70 disposedsubstantially at right angles tothe plate 7a, said flange extendingoutwardly from plate 7a a distance sufficient .to cover substantiallyhalf of the seeded portion F of thefurrow.

Beyond flange 70 is an outwardly flaring or rounding flange 7e andbeyond flange 7e is an inwardly rounding flange 7f, the-flanges 7 e and7; together forming a substantiall half round peripheral flange on therim of annular flange 70, but of greater diameter thereof for thepurpose hereinafter set forth. As shown, the half round flanges '7 e, 7f, are about half the width of the flange 70, but the proportions mayvary to'suit requirements. The plate 7a and the flange 70 are providedwith a series of perforations 7d as shown for the purpose hereinafterset forth.

When pressure is applied on the closed typepress wheels shown in Fig. 2,the flanges 76, 7f forming the substantially half round projection, willmake indentations F2 at the sides of the furrow F, beyond the centralportion F where the seeds D have been already deposited by the seedingmachine as disclosed in my. aforesaid application.- As the two wheels 7are toed in and nearly meet at the ground level thesoil-at the centralportion F will be pressed substantially flat by the opposed flanges 7 0over the seed as shown. The outer half round flange 7e, 1

7 forms the grooves F2 adapted to retain the loose soil S (Fig. 3) whichrolls down the sides of the furrow F preventing too much soil beingdeposited upon the raised central portion F containing the seed. Bothwheels 7 are adjustable by means of the serrated heads 6a of their stubaxles 6 and can be spread apart at the rear ends thereof, and when soadjusted the outer half round flange 76, 7f will pick up the loose finesoil S from the sides of the furrow F and when the wheels are in motionthis loose soil S carried in the wheels as shown in Fig. 2'will be movedinwardly'of the wheels and'will be discharged through the perforations7d in the annular flange'7c and in the plate 7a, the soil S passing out'rearwardly through the. perforations and falling as a dry soil mulch M(Fig. 3) upon the'pr'essed central portion F in which the seeds D havebeen planted. The object of the loose soil mulch M is to retain moisturein the pressed soil F over the seed.

The open press wheels shown in Fig. 4 are of somewhat similar design tothat of the closed wheels, except that the wheels have no inner annularpressing flange corresponding with the flange in Fig. 2, and hence thesewheels, as shown in Fig. 4:, do not press the soil in the centralportion F over the seed D, although they form the trenches F2 at theouter edges of the furrow F. These open type press wheels each comprisea plate 8a carrying the hub 86 for the stub shaft 6, the plates having aperipheral flange 86 corresponding with flanges 76 in Fig.2, and aflange 8; corresponding with flange 7; in Fig. 2, and the disk 8a isperforated as at 8d for permitting the fine soil S inside the wheel topass through the seed openings in the plate 8a. In both types of wheelsthe angularity of the wheels of each set may be adjusted by looseningthe nut arise as to adjust the angularity' thereof with respect .to theaxis of the furrow to cause a more or less quantity of dirt to be spreadin the form of a loose mulch over the seeded portion F of the furrow. T

I claim:

ljA mulching device for operating in a seed furrow, comprising awheelclosed at one side and open at its other side, means as the wheel isrolling for collecting soil from the furrow through the open side of thewheel, and means as the wheel is rolling for discharging the soil in theform of a loose mulch through the closed side of the wheel.

2. In a device as set forth in claim 1, the soil collecting meanscomprising an annular flange of substantially half round cross-sectionat the openside of the wheel of larger diameter than the major portionof the periphery of the wheel.

3. In a device asset forth in claim 1,

the. periphery of the wheel adjacent the closed sidebeing substantiallyflat, and the periphery of the wheel adjacent the open side being ofsubstantially half rounded cross-section and of larger diameter than theflat portion. 7

I 4. A mulching device for operating in a seed furrow, comprising awheel of substantially half the width of the furrow, said wheel beingclosed at its inner side and open at its outer side, means as the wheelis rolling for collecting soil from the side walls of the furrow throughthe open side of the wheel, and means as the wheel is rolling fordischarging the soil in the form of a. loose mulch through the closedside of the wheel.

tion at the open side of the wheel, said major portion of the peripheryof the wheel.

6. Ina device as set forth in claim l the periphery of the wheeladjacent the closed side being substantially flat, and the periphery ofthe wheel adjacent the open side being of substantially half roundedcross- 13. In a mulching device as set forth in claim 12, each wheeloperating in half the 1 width of the'furrow, and ing the angularity ofthe the ground.-

means for adjust- BEN r. JOHNSON.

section and of larger diameter than the flat 7 portion. 7 c

7. In a mulch wheel as set forth in claim 4, an annular perforatedpressing surface on the periphery of the wheel adjacent the closed sidethereof adapted to compact the soil adjacent the center of the furrow,the. mulch discharging through the perforations upon the compacted soil.

8. A mulching seed furrow, comprising a pair of opposed wheels, eachwheel being closed at its inner side and open at its outer side, meansas the ,wheels'are rolling for collecting soilfrom the side walls of thefurrow through the open sides of the wheels, means as the wheels arerolling for discharging the soil in the form of a loose mulch throughthe closed sides of the wheels, and means for adjusting the angularityof the wheels about a vertical axis with respect to the axis of thefurrow.

9. In a device as set forth inclaim 8, the soil collecting meanscomprising an annular flange of substantially half round cross-sectionat the open side of each wheel of larger diameter than the major portionof the periphery of the wheel.

10. In a device as set forth in claim 8, the periphery of the wheeladjacent the closed side being substantially flat, and the periphery .ofthe wheel adjacent theopen side being of substantially half roundcross-section and of larger diameter than the flat portion;

11. In a device as set forth in claim 8, an annular perforated pressingsurface on the periphery ofthe wheel adjacent side thereof adapted tocompact the soil adjacent the center of the furrow, the mulchdischarging through the perforations upon the compacted soil. p

12. A mulching device for seeding machines and the like, comprising alink pivotally mounted on the machine, posed press wheels carried byoperating in the seed furrow, each wheel comprising a disk forming theinner side wall of the wheel, a hub carried by the disk, an out-turnedannular flange at the periph-V cry of the disk adapted to compact thesoil at the central portion of the furrow, and a substantially halfround flange at the outer periphery of and of larger diameter than theout-turned flange adapted to collect dirt from the side walls of thefurrow, the outfnrned flange being perforated to discharge the soil inthe wheel in the form of a loose mulch over the compacted centralportion.

the closed 7 apair of opthe link anddevice for operating in a I wheelsrelative to

